Railroad spike



United States Patent Otice 3,356,300 RAILROAD SPIKE Samuel R. Hari-el, 903 9th Ave., Shenandoah, Iowa 51601 Filed June 28, 1965, Ser. No. 467,488 2 Claims. (Cl. 238-366) This invention relates to railroad spikes and more particularly it is an object of this invention tofprovide a railroad spike which will stay in lplace better than spikes of the prior art.

The most commonly used railroad spikes have smooth vertical outer surfaces and the constant up and down motion of the rails, prying on the head of the spike tends to pull such 'spikes out of the wooden ties, withthe resulting high maintenance expense throughout the country.

It is, therefore,v anobject of this invention to provide a railroad spike with a surface that is not smooth so that the wood of the railroad tie can press in above shoulders formed in the spike in order to hold the spike securely in the tie.

I am aware that nails have been ingeneral use that have outer surfaces which are provided with outwardly extending protrusions of various types designed for the same general objective as I have just described.

However, my new concept embodies an exterior of a spike which is not merely not smooth, but which is without outwardly extending protrusions common to nails, my spike having outermost surfaces so disposed that any point along any side of my spike protrudes outwardly from the center of the spike no farther than any point on the same side of the spike which is disposed above or below the certain point in question.

More particularly it is an object of my invention to provide a spike having a plurality of notches therein along the side surfaces thereof so that the wood of the tie will tend to expand into the notches for holding the spike in place, the wood tending to enter the notches as soon as a notch has presented itself alongside a portion of the wood and after compression of that portion of the wood has taken place immediately preceding the cause of the compression caused by the pointed end of the spike.

Still a further object is to provide notches as described each of which extend across but one of four sides of the spike whereby a notch on one side of the spike is not connected with a notch on an adjacent side of the spike so as to preserve a maximum of strength.

Still another object is to provide a spike having notches on two opposite sides thereof which notches are opposite one another horizontally for a minimum of manufacturing cost.

A further object is to provide a spike which is square in cross section for use in an opening through a rail, which opening is square in cross section, and with the spike accomplishing the firm holding advantages above described and yet with the spike having no portions protruding outwardly far enough so as to interfere with insertion of the spike through the square opening in the rail, the spike snugly tting the opening in the rail so as to preserve the good fit that is rcommon to spikes at rail openings while yet attaining the advantages of this invention.

It will be seen that the advantage above described is not possible with outwardly protruding portions made on the principles of the prior art nails above discussed because they would necessarily provide a loose t at the hole in the rail.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, drawings and claims, the scope of the invention not being limited to the drawings themselves as the drawings are only for the purpose of illustrating a way in which the principles of this invention can be applied.

3,356,300 Patented Dec. 5, 1967 Other embodiments of the invention utilizing the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural lchanges may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIGURE l is a side elevation of a railroad spike of this invention shown in the position of use in a railroad tie, the tie, the rail, and a reinforcement plate being shown in cross section.

FIGURE 2 is a left side view of the spike as it would be seen from the left side in FIGURE l.

FIGURE 3 is a section View taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2.

The railroad spike of this invention is generally indicated at 10 and has a head 12 and an elongated shank 14 depending from the head, the shank 14 being of a rectangular, and preferably of a square shape in cross section.

The shank 14 has a plurality of notches 22 therein, the notches 22 being arranged in pairs, with one notch 30 of a pair of notches 32 extending across one side 36 of the shank, and the other notch 38 of the pair 32 extending across the opposite side 40 of the shank, the notches 38 and 40 of the pair shown being elongated and straight and being disposed in parallelism with each other and each notch 22 extends at a right angle to the elongation of the shank 14. Pairs of notches are spaced apart along the length of the shank 14 and another pair of notches 50, adjacent a given pair of notches 32, will be disposed with each notch 52 and 54 of the pair of notches 50 extending across sides 60 and 62 respectively of the shank 14, which latter sides 60 and 62 are disposed between and at a right angle to the sides 36 and 40.

And so, by way of illustration, the notches 22 are arranged in pairs 32, 32', and 32, all of which are disposed in two opposite faces 36 and 40 of the shank 14, and other pairs of notches 50, 50', and 50 alternate with the notches 32, 32 and 32, but the notches 50, 50', and 50 extend across the other two faces or surfaces or sides 60 and 62 of the shank 14.

It will be seen that the sides of the shank each lie substantially in a plane, the sides having no portions protruding beyond the plane of the respective side. This has the advantage that when the spike is placed in a railroad rail having an opening 74 therein of square cross-section, the spike will tit without any parts protruding beyond the planes of the sides for eliminating the deterrent to smooth passage through the opening 74 that would otherwise be present.

The object of having the pairs of notches alternate in different sides of the shank is to prevent the shank from being excessively weakened at any one point as would be the case if the shank were notched on all four sides at the same place along the length of the shank.

The reason for having the notches of a pair disposed directly across the shank from each other and in parallelism is to permit the notches of a pair to be formed with a maximum of economy.

In operation, it will be found that the pointed lower end 70 of the spike will permit it to be driven into a railroad tie 72 in the conventional way for extending through an opening 74 in a reinforcement plate 76 with the head 12 having its offset portion 100 engaging a side 102 of a rail 110.

Once the spike is in place, it will be found that the wood of the tie 72 will press into the notches 22 of the spike tending to hold the spike in place and to prevent it from rising out of the tie.

More specifically, it is important that at least twothirds of the area of each side of the shank lies substantially in a plane.

As thus described, this invention is believed to fulfill the objectives above set forth.

From the foregoing description, it is thought to be obvious that a railroad spike constructed in accordance with my invention is particularly well adapted for use, by reason of the convenience and facility with which it may be assembled and operated, and it will also be obvious that my invention can be changed and modified without departing from the principles and spirit thereof, and for this reason, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise arrangement and formation of the several parts herein shown in carrying out rny invention in practice, except as claimed.

I claim:

1. A railroad spike having a head and an elongated shank of rectangular cross section depending from said head, said shank having a plurality of notches therein, said notches extending transversely across said shank, said notches being arranged in pairs with one notch of a pair extending across one side of said shank and the other notch of that pair extending across the opposite side of said shank, the notches of a pair being elongated and disposed in parallellism and each notch extending at a right angle to said shank, said pairs of notches being spaced apart along the length of said shank, those notches of a pair extending into two different sides of said shank than the notches of an adjacent pair for staggering said pairs of notches along the length of the shank for preserving strength.

2. A railroad spike having a head and an elongated shank of rectangular cross section depending from said head, said shank having a pluarlity of notches therein, said notches extending transversely across said shank, said notches being arranged in pairs with one notch of a pair extending across one side of said shank and the other notch of that pair extending across the opposite side of said shank, the notches of a pair being elongated and disposed in parallellism and each notch extending at a right angle to said shank, said pairs being spaced apart along the length of said shank, with the notches of alternate pairs extending across those sides of the shank which are disposed at degrees to the sides of said shank across which the notches of an adjacent pair extend.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 424,081 3/1890 Smith 85-21 988,744 4/1911 Svoboda 85--23 1,127,176 2/1915 Brown 85-23 2,417,385 3/1947 Tilly 283-366 FOREIGN PATENTS 13,972 7/ 1893 Great Britain.

ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.

R. A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A RAILROAD SPIKE HAVING A HEAD AND AN ELONGATED SHANK OF RECTANGULAR CROSS SECTION DEPENDING FROM SAID HEAD, SAID SHANK HAVING A PLURALITY OF NOTCHES THEREIN, SAID NOTCHES EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY ACROSS SAID SHANK, SAID NOTCHES BEING ARRANGED IN PAIRS WITH ONE NOTCH OF A PAIR EXTENDING ACROSS ONE SIDE OF SAID SHANK AND THE OTHER NOTCH OF THAT PAIR EXTENDING ACROSS THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF SAID SHANK, THE NOTCHES OF A PAIR BEING ELONGATED AND DISPOSED IN PARALLELISM AND EACH NOTCH EXTENDING AT A RIGHT ANGLE TO SAID SHANK, SAID PAIRS OF NOTCHES BEING SPACED APART ALONG THE LENGTH OF SAID SHANK, THOSE NOTCHES OF A PAIR EXTENDING INTO TWO DIFFERENT SIDES OF SAID SHANK THAN THE NOTCHES OF AN ADJACENT PAIR OF STAGGERING SAID PAIRS OF NOTCHES ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE SHANK FOR PRESERVING STRENGTH. 